MAD GOOD: Princeton High girls’ hockey player Maddie Samaan races up the ice in a game earlier this winter. Freshman forward Samaan tallied four goals and an assist to help PHS defeat Immaculate Heart Academy 9-4 last Thursday at Baker Rink. The Little Tigers, who improved to 4-3-3 with the win, play at the Academy of New Church (Pa.) on January 25 before hosting Chatham on January 26 and Summit on January 30 at Baker Rink. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
For Maddie Samaan, walking around the lobby of Baker Rink in 2014 provided her with special inspiration.
The walls at the rink feature a photo montage of Princeton University hockey standouts with Samaan’s mother, former Tiger women’s hockey star Mollie Marcoux Samaan, prominently displayed.
“When I first moved here, I saw her picture on the wall,” said Samaan, a freshman forward for the Princeton High girls’ hockey team who came to town when her mother became the Director of Athletics at Princeton in 2014. “I was like, I would someday like to get to half that level.”
Samaan’s mom, who was Princeton’s all-time leading scorer when she graduated in 1991 and was selected as a member of the Ivy League’s Silver Anniversary ice hockey team in 1999, has provided some hands-on assistance as her daughter works on raising the level of her game.
“My mom will take me on the ice early in the morning and will show me all of the things I need to work on,” said Samaan, who first skated when she was three and starting playing hockey when she was six. “Right now we have been working on getting aggressive.”
Last Thursday at Baker Rink against Immaculate Heart Academy, Samaan didn’t wait long to display her aggressiveness, scoring two straight goals in the first period as PHS overcame an early 1-0 deficit. Samaan kept rolling, ending up with four goals and an assist on the evening as the Little Tigers pulled away to a 9-4 win.
In reflecting on her output, Samann credited a connection with sophomore linemate, sophomore star forward Victoria Zammit. “I have really been enjoying working with Victoria,” said Samaan. “A lot of the times, we get pucks on net; I will shoot and Victoria will pick up my rebound or the other way around.”
In the win over Immaculate Heart, a lot of PHS players got pucks on the net, as Victoria Zammit had three goals and two assists while senior star Alexa Zammit chipped in a goal and three assists, Ella Nadeau had a goal, and Catherine Liu had two assists with Angelique Bencivenga, Olivia Benevento, and Anna Schmult each picking up an assist.
“It is all about the team; we have support from the team,” said Samaan, who also plays travel hockey for the Princeton Tiger Lilies. “We had a few girls who don’t always score as many goals put some in, which is awesome.”
Samaan is looking to help set up her teammates for scoring opportunities.
“I have been working on getting lower a lot and looking up to see who is open and who I can give it to,” said Samaan.
For Samaan, fitting in with the Little Tigers has come easily. “I think a lot of it is team bonding” said Samaan. “I have made a lot of friends on the team. It is all about having fun at this point.”
PHS head coach Christian Herzog is having fun seeing Samaan making an impact in her debut campaign.
“Maddie is the player everybody wants, and I don’t mean just in terms of talent. She brings a boatload of talent to the program, but she is a great kid,” said Herzog.
“She turns it on. She will pass and is trying to be a playmaker. She knows that we are trying to build the program. She realizes that she has the strength and the skill that she can just run up and down the ice all day long but she wants to make it fun for some of the other girls as well.”
The addition of Samaan has helped PHS be more diverse offensively this winter. “There has always been a lot of reliance the previous years on the Zammit sisters,” added Herzog. “This year, it is good to see a little bit of pressure come off of them; Maddie is filling that need.”
Having gone 3-1-2 in its last six games, PHS is in a good place as it heads into the homestretch of the season.
“We are coming around. We were saying prior to this game, with a bounce here or there, it could have been a whole different deal and we could have been 5-2-2,” said Herzog, whose team plays at the Academy of New Church (Pa.) on January 25 before hosting Chatham on January 26 and Summit on January 30 in the annual State Cup game at Baker Rink.
“We are getting a little stronger, a little more initiative as we are heading toward the WIHLMA (Women’s Interscholastic Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic) playoffs. It has always been a similar curve with this program.”
Samaan, for her part, believes that PHS is poised for a strong finish. “We have the playoffs in February so I think we are looking to go pretty far in that,” said Samaan. “We have a State Cup game with Summit. They beat us the last time (11-4 on December 20) so we are excited for the rematch.”